Monthly Archives: May 2014

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United States Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced more than $1.5 million in funding to expand bio-control efforts to fight Huanglongbing (HLB), also known as citrus greening. This action is the first designation of funds by the Huanglongbing Multi-Agency Coordination Group (HLB MAC Group) since it was established in December. The funds have enabled USDA to sign cooperative agreements with …

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By Claire Fleishman With tight budgets and children to feed, recipients of federal nutrition assistance were rarely seen at farmers markets, where the words “affordable” and “fresh” didn’t often mix. That is changing, thanks to a state program that is in line to get a big boost in federal support. More and more recipients are stepping up to market managers’ …

WASHINGTON, May 8, 2014 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA is making a historic $78 million investment in local and regional food systems, including food hubs, farmers markets, aggregation and processing facilities, distribution services, and other local food business enterprises. “The 2014 Farm Bill has given USDA new tools, resources and authority to support the rural economy,” …

Many decades ago, now-urban Los Angeles County was agrarian. In fact, it was once the largest Ag county in California. In that more pastoral time, North Hollywood High School had a 100-acre farm. Since then, it has seen its footprint shrink to eight acres and is now surrounded by apartment buildings and other developments. However, that smaller plot of land …

Susie Federico, an agricultural technician with the California Department of Food and Agriculture, inspects an ant trap filled with Spam canned meat in Santa Ana on Monday in search of an aggressive species of big-headed ant. Although the trap was crawling with ants, Federico determined they were not of the big-headed variety and moved on.  -Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register …

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — There are few rules in racing, but one that is considered inviolable is never to turn down a suitcase full of cash. Steve Coburn and Perry Martin understood that, but two months ago, when one of the sport’s far wealthier owners offered them $6 million for 51 percent of the first horse they had bred, the offer just …

WASHINGTON, May 2, 2014 –There are now 3.2 million farmers operating 2.1 million farms on 914.5 million acres of farmland across the United States, according to the 2012 Census of Agriculture, released today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The agriculture census presents more than 6 million pieces of information, which provide a detailed look at the U.S. farm sector …

With cherry season coming around again in California, CDFA presents an encore post from the Growing California video series – Cherries Galore: